Day 246 of the WarSaturday, October 31, 2026

Day 246 — Mojtaba Khamenei's Office Says He Ordered a Response 'Without Geographic Limits'; Hormozgan Calls a Strike on Two Qeshm Fishing Boats 'a U.S. Attack', Fars an 'Enemy' Drone Attack

TehranQeshm · Strait of Hormuz · Puntland (Somalia)Doha · Tehran · Washington · AtlantaWashington · Israel · Kuwait · Manama · RiyadhTehran (Iranshahr Street) · Yazd · Ardakan · Qazvin · Kerman · Bushehr

Mojtaba Khamenei's Office Says He Ordered Senior Commanders to Meet Any Threat With an 'Immediate, Effective Response Without Geographic Limits' and Said the Armed Forces Will Set the Terms for Ending the Conflict if Attacks Resume, per Iran International and RadioFarda, Which Notes No Time, Place, Image or Audio of the Meeting Was Released; Armed Forces Chief of Staff Abdollahi Says the 'Enemy Target Bank' Has Been Updated Over a Wider Geography and Forces 'Will Not Wait' for Enemy Action, per Iran International; Army Spokesman Akraminia Says a New U.S. 'Adventure' Would Widen the War's Geography and Araghchi Tells Merz €100bn Is 'Nothing' Next to the 'Devastating Blow' Iran's Forces Would Deal, per BBC Persian; SNSC Secretary Rezaei Says Iran Would 'Break America's Horn' and No New Decision Has Been Made on the Nuclear Doctrine

Iran

Mojtaba Khamenei's office said he ordered senior commanders to meet any level or type of threat with an 'immediate, effective response without geographic limits' and said the armed forces will set the terms for ending the conflict if attacks resume, per Iran International; RadioFarda says no image or audio of the meeting was released.source
BBC Persian said Khamenei's site also reported an order to update the target list so U.S. and Israeli 'material and non-material' assets are within reach; armed forces chief Ali Abdollahi said the 'enemy target bank' was updated over a wider geography and forces 'will not wait' once hostile signs are seen, per Iran International.source
Army spokesman Mohammad Akraminia wrote on X that if Trump embarks on another 'adventure', the war will engulf a wider geography and its end 'will not be in his hands'; Araghchi, reposting Merz, wrote that €100bn is 'nothing' next to the 'devastating blow' Iran's forces will deal those who dare harm its people, per BBC Persian.source
SNSC secretary Mohsen Rezaei told state TV 'if war starts, we will break America's horn' and claimed Iran 'tested' anti-ship missiles above the USS George Washington; he said no new decision has been made to change the nuclear doctrine, though whether to keep it if war resumes is being discussed, per BBC Persian.source

Eyewitnesses Cited by Vahid Online and Iran International Say Basij and Plainclothes Forces Broke Up a Halloween Gathering on Tehran's Iranshahr Street on Friday Evening, Blocking the Street, Closing Cafés and Beating People, With Two Detained, and a Source Tells RadioFarda Cafés in Tehran, Yazd and Qazvin Were Sealed; Kerman's Revolutionary Court Sentences Dey 1404 Protest Detainee Shayan Shakibaei, 29, to Death, per Vahid Online; Prosecutor-General Movahedi-Azad Says Iran Will Collect All Damages From the U.S., Israel and Every Country That Cooperated With Them, and Fars Says a Digital-Arts School Owner's Assets Were Seized, per Iran International; Army Spokesman Akraminia Says Su-35s Will Be Received After the War and MP Kowsari Says Iran Has Planned to Control Hormuz Since 1987, per Iran International

Iran

Eyewitnesses cited by Vahid Online and Iran International said Basij and plainclothes forces broke up a Halloween gathering on Tehran's Iranshahr Street on Friday evening (8 Aban), blocking the street, closing cafés and beating people, with two detained; a source told RadioFarda cafés there and in Yazd and Qazvin were sealed.source
Branch 5 of Kerman's Revolutionary Court sentenced Shayan Shakibaei, 29, who was detained during the Dey 1404 nationwide protests, to death, and three co-defendants in the same case to a combined 28 years in prison; no details of the charges or the evidence have been published, per Vahid Online.source
Prosecutor-General Mohammad Movahedi-Azad said Iran will 'jointly' collect all damages from the U.S., Israel and every country that cooperated with them, per Iran International; Fars said the assets of the owner of Invers, a digital-arts school, were seized, accusing him of 'insulting Shiites' and 'propaganda against the system' online.source
Army spokesman Mohammad Akraminia told Tabnak the purchase and contract for Su-35 fighters were pursued long ago, pilot training is done and the jets will certainly be received after the war; MP Mohammad-Esmail Kowsari told Tasnim Iran has planned to control Hormuz since 1366 (1987), per Iran International.source

The Wall Street Journal Says Trump Phoned Netanyahu on Saturday Morning to Consult as the U.S. Prepares to Resume Attacks on Iran, and Israel's Channel 11 Says Washington Informed Gulf States About a 'Short and Intense' Strike, per Iran International; the WSJ, Citing a Pentagon Estimate, Puts Damage to U.S. Bases From Iranian Strikes at No Less Than $5bn and Possibly $15bn, per Iran International, and AP Says 26 U.S. Bases and Sites Were Hit, Kuwait Most, per Vahid Online; at the Manama Dialogue Egypt's Foreign Minister Says He Is 'Very Worried' About a New Round and Syria's Says Joining the Mecca Defence Pact Is Under Discussion, per BBC Persian; the Saudi-Led Coalition Says It Downed a Drone Over Riyadh, per BBC Persian, and the GCC Secretary-General Condemns Iran's Attacks on Member States, per RadioFarda

US / Coalition

The Wall Street Journal, citing informed sources, said Trump phoned Netanyahu on Saturday morning to consult as the U.S. prepares to resume attacks on Iran, giving no details of the call, per Iran International; Israel's Channel 11 reported Washington had informed Gulf states about a 'short and intense' strike on Iran.source
The WSJ said a Pentagon estimate puts damage from Iranian missile and drone strikes on U.S. bases at no less than $5bn and possibly $15bn, with 274 structures damaged at 24 facilities, per Iran International; AP said strikes on 26 U.S. bases and sites caused billions of dollars in damage, Kuwait hit most, per Vahid Online.source
Egypt's foreign minister Badr Abdelatty told the Manama Dialogue he is 'very worried' a new round of U.S.–Iran escalation would be more destructive, and Syria's foreign minister Asaad al-Shaibani said talks on Syria joining the Mecca defence pact with Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan are under way, per BBC Persian.source
Saudi-led coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki said air defences downed a 'hostile' drone over Riyadh, causing no damage, and two more in the Eastern and Southern regions, per BBC Persian; GCC Secretary-General Jasem Albudaiwi condemned Iran's attacks on member states and Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia, per RadioFarda.source

Hormozgan's Deputy Governor Ahmad Nafisi Says Two Fishing Boats in Qeshm's Waters Were Targeted in 'a U.S. Attack', One Occupant Hospitalised and Two First Reported Missing Later Found, per BBC Persian, While IRGC-Affiliated Fars Calls It a Drone Attack by 'the Enemy' Without Naming a Country, per Iran International — the Reports Carry No U.S. Comment; Iran International Notes IRGC Attacks on Vessels Have Increased and Cites a Financial Times Report of a Limpet-Mine Attack on a Tanker; UKMTO Says Hormuz Traffic Rose in the Week to 30 October but Stays About 70% Below Pre-Conflict Levels, per Iran International; the EU Naval Force and Puntland Sources Say Somali Pirates Hijacked an Iranian Fishing Boat, per BBC Persian

Gulf & Naval

Ahmad Nafisi, Hormozgan's deputy governor for political and security affairs, said two fishing boats in Qeshm's waters were targeted in 'a U.S. attack' around 11:30 local time; two occupants were taken to Qeshm, one hospitalised, and two first reported missing were found, per BBC Persian. The reports carry no U.S. comment.source
IRGC-affiliated Fars said two boats of Qeshm fishermen were hit in a drone attack about 14 miles south of the island, with two missing and two injured, blaming 'the enemy' without naming a country, per Iran International, which noted IRGC attacks on vessels have risen and the FT reported Iranian forces attacked a tanker with limpet mines.source
UKMTO's weekly report said traffic through Hormuz in the week to 30 October rose to 122 ships out and 155 in, from 114 and 127, but stayed about 70% below pre-conflict levels; it counted 88 incidents in the strait since 9 Esfand (28 February) and rates the threat 'severe', per Iran International.source
The EU naval force and security sources in Puntland said armed pirates hijacked an Iranian fishing boat off north-eastern Somalia, per BBC Persian; Reuters said Somali piracy has surged again, with at least 15 attacks reported since April, the most since 2013.source

A Source Tells Reuters Iran's Negotiators Are in Doha for Talks With Qatari Mediators, With Regular Contacts With Washington, After More Than 12 Hours of Talks in Tehran on Friday, per BBC Persian and Iran International, While Tasnim Says There Will Be No Negotiation With the U.S. in Qatar and Al-Araby Al-Jadeed Says a U.S. Delegation Will Come for 'Direct Negotiation'; Araghchi Says There Is No Plan to Meet U.S. Officials and Vance's Message Was Reviewed 'Carefully', and Rezaei Says He Has Read Vance's Letter, Not Yet Answered It, and 'Their Tone Has Completely Changed', per BBC Persian; Axios Cites a U.S. Official on Two Conflicting Demands Blocking Progress, per Vahid Online; Rubio Says Trump Has Not Yet Decided on New Strikes and Prefers a Peaceful Solution, per BBC Persian and Iran International

Global

A source told Reuters Iran's negotiators were in Doha for talks with Qatari mediators, who are in regular contact with Washington, after 12-plus hours of talks in Tehran on Friday, per BBC Persian; Tasnim said there would be no talks with the U.S. in Qatar, but Al-Araby Al-Jadeed said a U.S. delegation would come for 'direct negotiation'.source
Araghchi told Al Jazeera there is no plan to meet U.S. officials, calling such reports 'media speculation', and said Vance's message was reviewed 'carefully' at a high level, per BBC Persian; Rezaei told state TV he has read Vance's letter and not yet answered it, saying 'their tone has completely changed', which is 'a good sign'.source
Axios cited a U.S. official as saying two conflicting demands have blocked progress: Washington wants nuclear concessions as part of resuming talks, Tehran wants the blockade lifted, frozen assets released and oil sales allowed first; Qatar is urging Iran to let UN inspectors into bombed nuclear sites, per Vahid Online.source
Marco Rubio told a G20 press conference in Atlanta that Trump has not yet decided on new strikes on Iran and prefers a peaceful solution, though some issues cannot be resolved peacefully, and said he did not know whether the Qatari-mediated talks have a set timeline, per BBC Persian and Iran International.source